


Strange Hours

by Divine Gardienne (Eliizabethx)



Series: Julian/Bronwyn [1]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Awkward Tension, Breaking and Entering, Dogs, F/M, First Meetings, Julian's awkward first appearance, does not go quite to plan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 14:43:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12301299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliizabethx/pseuds/Divine%20Gardienne
Summary: Isn't that title just the cleverest? Seriously though, this is just a retelling of when we first meet Julian.





	Strange Hours

“Strange hours for a shop to keep, no?” A voice spoke from somewhere behind her and she spun around in surprise, only to find her empty shop waiting for her.

Her gaze flits around the room, eyeing the shadowed corners but still seeing no one.

“… Behind you.”

Spinning on her heel she finds a cloaked figure looming against the front door, wearing an eerie plague mask to cover their features.

“Sources say this is the witch’s lair.” Their voice comes softly muffled through the mask. “So who might _you_ be?”

Their question is followed by their advancing steps and Bronwyn back up, finding her lower back pressed against one of her shops glass display cases, her heart pounding in her chest.

As soon as the intruder is near enough to her she swings her fist out, but she’s just a second too late to surprise them as they lean away from her.

“Ah ha! You’ve got guts,” they say lightly, a quiet chuckle escaping them. “En garde, then. Let’s see what else you’ve got.”

She remembers the empty bottle sitting on the counter just behind her, that she’d been planning to repurpose as a candle holder, and tosses an easy magical attack at him. Bright bursts of light meant to blind and singe any visible skin.

“Oh, has he been teaching you his tricks?” The figure laughs meanly at the display, waving the lights away with a gloved hand. “Unfortunately for you, I’ve seen them all befo-”

She cuts off their monologue by launching the bottle at their head, earning her a surprised yelp as their head snaps back with the force.

Knocked loose by the blow, their mask clatters to floor.

She takes the opportunity to run for the kitchen, hoping to reach the back door. She hears footsteps closing in behind her before she even nears the doorway and panics, her gaze shooting to her left and right, to the stairs where she’d sent her familiar before answering the door for the Countess.

“Callister!" She calls frantically, and she thinks she can just hear the sound of him landing on the floor after leaping from her bed.

She feels a hand snatch her arm the next second, followed by an arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her back against the intruder’s body.

"You _do_ have guts, don’t you?” A distinctly male voice purrs into her ear. “Who else is here?”

“No one!” She says quickly, her heart beating so fast she’s almost afraid of it popping out of her chest. “It’s just us!”

“Than who did you just call?” He demanded, turning them around and pushing her back towards the front of the shop.

They’ve barely made it back into the room when they hear a menacing growl from behind them. The man at her back goes stiff and she can feel him turn to look behind them right before she hears Callister’s nails hitting the floorboards in a sprint.

“Fuck!” He gasps, right as the dog’s teeth sink into his coat, apparently sensing that the man’s thigh-high leather boots would offer too much resistance.

The man releases her waist as he’s unbalanced by her dog. She throws her elbow back and catches him in the gut, earning a small noise as she pulls away, trying to pull her arm free.

Standing in front of him she finally gets a look at his face and she goes still in surprise, he turns to look at her for a moment when he realizes she’s stopped struggling, and her eyes go wide when her suspicions are confirmed.

Bloody faced from her previous attack and sporting an eye patch, she still recognizes the man before her. Their was a time when most of Vesuvia was familiar with him, but it had been years now.

“Doctor Jules?” Callister stills at the sound of her voice, teeth still sunk into the man’s coat.

He quirks an eyebrow at her. “Haven’t heard that name in years.” He says, hesitantly releasing her arm and looking back towards the dog at his feet.

“Cal,” she beckons the dog over to her, and he releases the coat with another growl aimed at the man, before padding over to stand in front of her defensively.

Doctor Jules shakes out his coat before turning to stare at her appraisingly.

“Now that we’ve settled that,” he mutters, watching her familiar warily. “Tell me, _where is the witch?_ ”

“Why would I ever answer that?” She asked meanly, glaring at him.

“I thought you might say that,” he muttered, wiping at his bloodied brow with a rag he pulls from his trouser pocket, his mood clearly darkening. “Well, no sense in wasting the visit.”

He stuffs the rag back in his pocket, face almost entirely cleared of blood now. "You’re a fortune teller, aren’t you?“ He questions, earning a wary look from her. "Tell me my fortune, and I’ll leave you in peace.”

She looks at him in confusion. "... What?"

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments are welcome and appreciated~! ^^


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